Wireless phones and devices conveniently allow users who are traveling to call and communicate with other people. In case a user cannot remember the telephone number of a contact or it is not handy, or the user wants to obtain directions and other information concerning, e.g., restaurants, theaters, etc., he or she can call an information assistance provider for assistance which may include, e.g., an operator, a voice server, etc. To that end, an expansive network of communication call centers has been established which provides users with nationwide information assistance.
Another convenient mode of communication that has become widespread is email communications. Many individuals maintain multiple email accounts with various email service providers (ESPs), such as Yahoo!, Optimum Online, AOL or privately accessible providers (such as corporations' email systems), etc., using different email service applications (ESAs), e.g., Yahoo! Mail, Optimum Online Webmail, Lotus Notes, Outlook, Palm, etc.
The recent advent of Voice E-mail™—as described in copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/903,454, filed on Jul. 30, 2004, incorporated herein by reference—enables a user to communicate with (e.g., by calling) an information assistance provider to receive information concerning email messages received in the user's email accounts, which may be furnished by providers unaffiliated with the information assistance provider. Data concerning access to one or more email accounts associated with a user is stored at the information assistance service. When a communication from the user is received by a directory assistance service, information concerning email messages may be provided to the user. For example, a list of email messages may be reported to the user. In addition, new email messages, e.g., email messages received since the last time the user called the information assistance service, may be reported.
Performing the various operations that are offered by Voice E-mail™ messaging services requires a user to issue and/or respond to one or more commands. However, due largely to the wide array of ESAs that exist, and because each of these ESAs typically provides its own nomenclature for effectuating email commands, the ability to provide commands with which many users are familiar has proven to be difficult. For example, to display a list of new email messages, Lotus Notes prompts its users to click a “Refresh” button, Optimum Online Webmail prompts its users to click a “Get Mail” button and Yahoo! Mail prompts its users to click a “Check Mail” button. Because many email users are accustomed to a certain command format—based upon the ESA they use—and because numerous email command nomenclatures exist, providing a Voice E-mail™ command nomenclature that is familiar to a large number of users has not been forthcoming.